New Deal

Mr. Andrew George:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was received by St. Ives constituents under each of the New Deal schemes. [155748]

Ms Jowell:
I have been asked to reply.

It is not possible to provide resource information for New Deals by constituency, as the Employment Service systems are not set up to allocate or monitor resources at constituency level. However, the total resource allocation for all New Deals in 2000-2001 for the South West Region, which includes St. Ives, was £34 million.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Benefit Statistics

Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 28 February 2001, Official Report, columns 697-98W, if he will recalculate the first column, excluding those who are entitled to income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. [153375]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 12 March 2001]: The information is not available in the format requested.

Disability Premium

Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of people in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) severe disablement allowance and (c) income support with a disability premium are undertaking therapeutic work as provided for in regulation 17(1)(a)(i) of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work)(General) Regulations 1995. [154555]

Mr. Bayley:
The information is not available. However, research by the Department has estimated that about 1 to 2 per cent. of people receiving incapacity benefits are engaged in therapeutic work.

We are keen to encourage incapacity benefits recipients to undertake some form of paid work which may ease their way back into full-time work. In my written answer to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg) on 22 March 2001, Official Report, columns 340-41W, we announced that from April 2002 we are introducing new, fairer and more flexible work rules to help people receiving incapacity benefits to get back into work.

Lone Parents

Mr. Kemp:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents on Income Support there were in the Northern Region (a) in 1996 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [155015]

29 Mar 2001 : Column: 772W

Mr. Bayley:
The information is in the table.

Number of Lone Parents on Income Support--North East Government Office Region

Thousand

May 1996

56.5

November 2000

48.7

Notes:

1. Lone parents are defined as single claimants with dependants who are not receiving the disability or pensioner premiums.

2. Based on 5 per cent. sample, therefore subject to sampling error.

3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and quoted in thousands.

4. Cases are allocated to each Government Office region by matching postcodes against the relevant version of the ONS Postcode Directory.

Source:

Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiries, May 1996 and November 2000.

Mr. Kemp:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children in lone families on Income Support there were in the northern region in (a) 1996 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [155014]

Mr. Bayley:
The information is in the table.

Number of children in lone parent families on Income Support

North East Government Office Region

Thousand

May 1996

99.8

November 2000

84.9

Notes:

1. Lone parents are defined as single claimants with dependants who are not receiving the disability or pensioner premiums

2. Based on 5 per cent. sample, therefore subject to sampling error

3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and quoted in thousands

4. Children are defined as aged 0-15 years

5. Cases are allocated to each Government Office region by matching postcodes against the relevant version of the ONS Postcode Directory

Source:

Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiries, May 1996 and November 2000

Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment the Government have made of the proportion of lone parents who have found work under the New Deal for Lone Parents who return to the Income Support case load within (a) one month, (b) six months and (c) one year. [155418]

Angela Eagle:
By the end of December 2000, 81,311 lone parents had found work through the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP). An assessment of the numbers of lone parents returning to Income Support will form part of the evaluation of NDLP which is currently under way.

Child Support

Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measurement the Government will use to assess how well the new child support regulations are working and when to move existing cases to the new system. [155417]

29 Mar 2001 : Column: 773W

Angela Eagle:
Existing child support cases will be transferred to the new scheme only after it has been introduced for new cases and is seen to be operating properly.

We will carefully monitor the new scheme, evaluating Child Support Agency progress towards meeting the targets set out in the public service agreement, such as the speed and accuracy of child support assessments.

Departmental Policies (North Devon)

Mr. Harvey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the North Devon constituency, the effects on North Devon of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [155900]

Mr. Rooker:
The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of: eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10; promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and, combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.

These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report, "Opportunity for all--One year on: making a difference" (CM4865, September 2000) sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done. Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than constituency level data, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in North Devon since May 1997.

Measures in our five Budgets so far will lift over 1.2 million children nationally out of poverty. These include record increases to Child Benefit, the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, increases in the income-related benefits, the minimum wage and tax changes.

Child Benefit will be worth £15.50 a week for the eldest child and £10.35 a week for other children from April 2001: nationally about seven million families receive Child Benefit, and in North Devon 10,387 families benefit.

We now have the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years. The new deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over-50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since May 1997 the number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,562,400 to 960,600; in North Devon the number has reduced from 2,000 to 1,600. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally and in North Devon from 1,300 to 1,200.

29 Mar 2001 : Column: 774W

Older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty. So we have introduced Winter Fuel Payments to help with their heaviest fuel bill. This winter, the payment is £200 for households who qualify. Around 22,300 older people in North Devon have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter.

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 21,800 pensioners in North Devon will benefit from the substantial increases in the basic State Pension this April and next; this year's increase is £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for couples. In addition we have introduced free TV licences for the over-75s of whom we estimate there are about 9,700 in North Devon. 2,900 pensioner families in North Devon are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee, which we introduced in April 1999 to help our poorest pensioners. From April they will be at least £15 a week, or £800 a year, better off in real terms as a result of Government measures since 1997.

Other reforms in the pipeline include: the new pension credit in 2003 designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings; the launch of stakeholder pensions in April this year; and the introduction of the state second pension in April 2002 both of which will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.